Argentina's Severe Inflation Rate Surpasses 100% for First Time in Over 30 Years

Argentina's Consumer Price Index (CPI) will rise about 6.2% after having already jumped 6% in January, effectively bringing the annual inflation rate for the country of nearly 46 million residents above three figures for the first time since the 1990s.

Argentina, which has been battling skyrocketing prices for years, saw consumer prices rise to 102.5% in February from a year prior, marking the highest it has been since late 1991.

The announcement by Argentina's government on Tuesday comes at a time when the center-left Peronist administration is looking ahead at elections this coming October. The conservative opposition in Argentina now leads in the polls as Argentines are growing tired of inflation, with insiders saying they have only the government of President Alberto Fernandez to blame.

Argentines are feeling the strain at home, as soaring prices on food and gas are making it difficult for some to survive. Inflation has also forced the country's central bank to raise their interest rates to an alarming 75%.

“The truth is that I live day to day, I look for low prices, I go to markets. We look for where the meat is cheaper, the vegetables are cheaper, and hunt for online promotions to get by,” Gisella Saluzzo, a 30-year-old doctor in Buenos Aires told a British news outlet.

“There are things that I’ve stopped buying because I say no, it is just impossible for it to increase like this,” added Andrea Mendoza, a 50-year old teacher. “So I don’t buy some things, I change habits or buy offers.

The latest came as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced on Monday that they had reached an agreement with Argentina’s government on an aid package with a figure of about $5.3 billion. If that package is approved in the coming weeks, the amount of aid Argentina will have received since the start of its assistance in March of last year will reach a number of $28.8 billion.

"Against a more challenging economic backdrop, particularly the increasingly severe drought, stronger policy actions are necessary to safeguard stability, address rising inflation and policy setbacks, and maintain the anchoring role of the program," explained the lender.

Argentina's National Institute of Statistics and Censuses noted that in 2022, the nation's consumer prices reached an astounding 94.8%, then marking one of the highest spikes across Latin America.